Young thespians tread the boards at the South Street Eisteddfod

Ballarat's Royal South Street Eisteddfod is now in its 122nd year, and there are over 10,000 performers taking part this time around. The mammoth eisteddfod got underway in late July and won't wrap up until early November. The youngest performer is three and the oldest in their mid-70s.

Two weeks in and a group of under 10s were preparing to perform monologues from Roald Dahl stories and poems.

Gabriel Blake, 9, said he can't remember how long he's been doing drama, but it has been a very long time. He said it's lots of fun because he gets to try new things.

"I like the scripts this one's from Roald Dahl. Roald Dahl's a great person and so it's nice saying his poem."

Before hopping on stage to perform 'Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf' - with several masks for props made by his mum - he said he was "nervous and happy". He said he doesn't want to be an actor when he grows up.

"I just want to be someone in the crowd, I just like being who I am."

So how did Gabe feel after his performance?

"Very furry, I got a few hairs in my mouth. But I'm feeling very relieved."

Lucy Walters, 9, had six different performances on the one day, including miming, a Roald Dahl reading and a poem.

She says she's always been outgoing and has been doing drama classes since she was three years old.

"When I was little I used to just clap my hands and smile, I wasn't nervous or anything."

Lucy says she loves that with acting you can "do what you like".

"You don't have to get forced to do it, you can just do what you love. It's just so fun."

She says she always gets a bit nervous before going on stage.

"You kind of have to be a little bit nervous to boost you, because otherwise you can get over confident and mess up."

Lucy says it's in her life plan to be an actor and says her mum, Polly, is very supportive.

"She's a little drama queen at home so she was always a natural. She just loves acting and really takes notice of people and their mannerisms and things like that, so it comes quite naturally to her," said Polly.

After her performance as Miss Trunchbull from 'Matilda' Lucy said she felt "pretty good".